


Trapped in Silk

by Marleyisaskephalosimp



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Gay, LGBTQ Themes, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Sad, Sexual Confusion, Skephalo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:26:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28950375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marleyisaskephalosimp/pseuds/Marleyisaskephalosimp
Summary: Its been months since skeppy and bad, or any of his online friends have talked, there was no particular reason for their absence in his life..they just drifted away.They drifted away almost completely from Skeppy's mind, who had forgotten about his friends, it had felt like another lifetime since he's talked to them and he has been silent on almost every platform since then, slowly trickling off into irrelevance since well, he wasn't maintaining his channels like he used too.No new content means no new fans, no new subs, no new likes, no new comments, no new money.None of it had any reason, he just simply got less and less interested, things seemed less and less fun and slowly he got less and less happy.Until one day, he reopenes discord and re-discovers his old life, filled with social media, trolls, and friends and feels a particular fondness for one of them..
Relationships: Zak Ahmed/Darryl Noveschosch
Comments: 9
Kudos: 34





	1. Discord

Skeppy's days were always slow and despondent. They seemed to all be empty, all without meaning when he wasn't working. It had been a while since he had moved out of his parents house and into his own place, and he couldn't get this shallow melancholic feeling out of the depths of his being. It had settled there a while ago and for the most part he tried to ignore it. 

Skeppy was a people person, especially if they were close to him and not being around his family, or having any friends was just really breaking him down. The emptiness in his head and the loneliness in his bones was almost getting unbearable. 

I guess some could say it was the feeling of a broken heart, never healed. But Skeppy hadn't even known his heart was broken, he didn't know who he was yearning, who he was _aching_ for. He got up and out of bed, not even giving a bother to the shower, which was now coming up on its 3rd week of unuse. The shower was not in disrepair as you'd like to believe..no the shower was fine, it was the person who was supposed to be operating the shower that was worse for wear. He dragged his aching muscles to his computer, which although was meer feet away from his bed, judging by how long it had taken him to reach his desk you would've thought it was 2 rooms over. He sat in the chair and booted up the PC, the soft humming of the cooling fans buzzing in his ears as the monitors displayed around him flicked on. 

His fingers flew across the dense keys on the professional gaming board. Skeppy, being used to the keystrokes of his password, typed it with ease.

B a d b o y h a l o i s a p o t a t o 

He never really thought of his password, ya' know? He had become so used to that phrase being his password that he didn't take into account that a familiar name sat upon his fingertips. To him, it was keystrokes, nothing more. The boy clicked enter, immediately getting bombarded with notifications from discord once he opened it. It had been a while since he'd heard that familiar ping and he sure didn't miss it..not one bit. The last time Skeppy had logged into Discord was about 4 months ago with friends who had felt like they were from a past lifetime. 

He couldn't remember their names for the life of him so he looked at his friends list. Which, admittedly, was a fair bit smaller than he'd remembered. He scrolled past his inbox, listing off the names in his head

_MegaPvP, Micheal923, XxGamerFGxX, Zelkam, Vurb, BlueBByBalabar, InvadedModxS, MaxiPintch, F1NN5TER, CaraCarbonVXG, Badboyhalo.._

_Badboyhalo?_

Wait, wasn't this the person from his password? Curiously, Skeppy clicked on the profile picture that had, unfortunately, been abandoned and unclicked for months. He looked at the messages between them, they didn't seem very.. nice

It almost looked like they were angry at each other, but it had been so long that Skeppy could no longer remember the context of the situation, so he scrolled up a bit, reading the texts back over one more time. 

\----- _12th March, 2020_ \--------

_Skeppy: BADDDDD GET ON CALL WITH MEEE PLEASE I MISS YOU AND VURB IS HARASSING ME ABOUT OUR FAKE SEX TAPE AGAIN LOL HELP (10:21 pm)_

_Badboyhalo: Ew what, Skeppy i cant T-T (10:22 pm)_

_Skeppy: But whyyyyyy (10:23 pm)_

_Badboyhalo: Im sorry, ive got manhunt with Dream, then a stream with Karl, then a stream with Quackity (10:23 pm)_

_Badboyhalo: maybe tmr tho??? :D (10:23 pm)_

_Skeppy: Bad answer me honestly here (10:25 pm)_

_Skeppy: Do i even matter to you? (10:25 pm)_

_Badboyhalo: What kind of question is that? Of course u do???? (10:25 pm)_

_Skeppy: You used to always make time for me Bad (10:25 pm)_

_Skeppy: Now its like you never do (10:25 pm)_

_Skeppy: I haven't even been in a proper call with you in weeks (10:25 pm)_

_Badboyhalo: Skeppy im sorry to cut this short but i've really got to go, Dream needs me (10:26 pm)_

_Skeppy: sure, whatever (10:26 pm)_

_Badboyhalo: Love you :D (10:29 pm)_

_Skeppy: Yeah right (10:30 pm)_

_Skeppy started call (1:03 am)_

_Skeppy ended call (1:03 am)_

_\---------16th March, 2020-----_

_Skeppy: Hey baddddddd (9:12 am)_

_Skeppy: Badddddddddd (11:34 am)_

_Badboyhalo: Hey (2:19 pm)_

_Skeppy: BAD :DDDDD (2:19 am)_

_Skeppy: Can you call? (2:20 am)_

_Badboyhalo_ _: not rn sry :( (2:24 am)_

_\---------4th April_ _, 2020------_

_Skeppy: Bad its been like 2 weeks, can you please pick up? (2:59 am)_

_Skeppy started call (3:12 am)_

_Skeppy ended call (3:12 am)_

_\--------23rd April, 2020------_

_Skeppy: Bad (4:57 pm)_

_Skeppy: Bad (4:57 pm)_

_Skeppy: Bad (4:57 pm)_

_Skeppy: Bad (4:57 pm)_

_Skeppy: Bad (4:57 pm)_

_Skeppy: Bad (4:58 pm)_

_Skeppy: Bad (4:58 pm)_

_Skeppy: I miss u (4:58 pm)_

_\----------2nd May, 20xx-----_

_Skeppy started call (5:12 am)_

_Skeppy ended call (5:12 am)_

_\-------------------------_

Skeppy scrolled up further, way further, fishing deep into their messages, going months back.

Now here, the messages seemed lighter, more fun, like whatever had caused their shit wasn't present.

_\----------7th January 2020------------_

  
_Badboyhalo: skeppppppyyyyyyy (6:56 pm)_

_Badboyhalo: skepppppppyyyy its time to recorrdddddd :DDD (6:57 pm)_

_Skeppy: oh right, ill be on in a sec lemme just launch OBS rq :) (6:57 pm)_

_Badboyhalo_ _: Mk :) (6:57 pm)_

_Skeppy started call (7:02 pm)_

_Skeppy ended call (2:10 am)_

_\------------17th January 2020--------_

_Badboyhalo: Happy 20th birthday! i love you so much :D (11:30 am)_

_Skeppy: Thanks baddd, ily toooooooo <3 (11:30 am)_

_Badboyhalo started call (11:34 am)_

_Badboyhalo ended call (4:57 pm)_

_\--------14th February, 2020---------_

_Badboyhalo: Happy valentines day <3 (9:33 am)_

_Skeppy: Happy V day, did you get the gift i sent you? ;) (9:34 am)_

_Badboyhalo: I did UwU (9:34 am)_

_Skeppy: Do you like itttt??? (9:34 am)_

_Badboyhalo: I love it, he might just replace you >:) (9:34 am)_

_Skeppy: HE??? ITS GOTTA GENDER NOW AFHFAHHFHAHF (9:35 am)_

_Badboyhalo: yes, he, and im naming him Replacement Skeppy (9:35 am)_

_Skeppy: Lol ok bad, make sure to sleep with him every night tho_ 😳🥺 _(9:36 am)_

_Badboyhalo: ur weird, im just gonna put him with the rest of my stuffed animals that you sent (9:39 am)_

_Skeppy: eh, good enough, as long as hes near you :))))))) (9:39 am)_

_Badboyhalo: simp.. (9:39 am)_

_Skeppy: Whatever, you love meeeeeee >:) (9:39 am)_

_Badboyhalo: ur lucky i do :| (9:39 am)_

\-------- _February 24th 2020------_

_Skeppy: Did you really mean what you said on Quackity's stream? (1:56 am)_

_Baboyhalo: What're you talkin bout? (1:56 am)_

_Skeppy: replacing me.. (1:56 am)_

_  
Badboyhalo: Nooo, of course not, i love you so much ur my best friend i could never replace you (1:56 am)_

_Badboyhalo: Especially not with Mr. Quackity :| (1:56 am)_

_Skeppy: lol ok, ilyt bad <3 (1:57 am)_

_\-------------------------_

In Skeppy's distant and fogged memory, these messages meant something, he knew they did because as they flew past his screen and he soaked them in, reading them like he would an incredible novel, he started to feel his stomach churn, twist even. It was the most emotion he had felt in months but why?

He could barely remember any of these peoples names, and it seems like they've drifted, not talked in months, not even trying. 

In a desperate attempt to re-latch onto the feeling in his stomach he logged into youtube, which he hadn't done in a long time.. After a few attempts at his password, it finally clicked into his brain and there it sat, his dead, stagnant channel. 

Skeppy scrolled over his published videos and an overwhelming sense of nostalgia and guilt well up inside of him. It was almost suffocating, it took up his throat as he looked deeper into his channel, his heart panged with sorrow at the stupid titles, and the thumbnails that he remembers slaving away at for many hours. His mouse rolled over one video, simply titled "Best of Trolling BadBoyHalo 2020". Now that Skeppy looked, it seemed like a lot of these videos had this BadBoyHalo character in them. 

He clicked into the "Best of Trolling BadBoyHalo 2020" video and watched. His ears were flooded with a sweet, familiar voice yelling his name over and over again. 

This made him smile. 

He contuined watching and after the series of cries from Bad, he was met with quiet mood music and his own voice 

_"What's up guys??"_

_"Alright so ive known BadBoyHalo for a very long time, we've also made a lot (250+) videos with each other!"_

_"and i wanted to share 12 moments with you guys before this year ends of my all-time favourite, troll-e..best moments j-just ever!"_

_"I really do hope you guys enjoy this video cause i had a TON of fun making all of these videos.."_

_"Annnddd this video is kinda sentimental to me cause it kinda does mean a lot to me so i really REALLY hope you guys enjoy!"_

And thus the montage begun. Skeppy sat and watched the hour long video, taking in every second of it. The video closed out with a very sentimental message from him to bad about how much he loved him. And it was clear to anyone watching that Bad and Skeppy really did love each other.

But here he was, sitting in his chair, not feeling a goddamn thing. 

I mean sure, some of his memories were brought back and he had a grasp on who Bad used to be but.. it just didn't feel right. 

Something felt off, as though he was holding back some memory, something his brain didn't want him to remember. He pushed it aside though, thinking it was just some dumb thing his head was making up and decided to go ahead and go back to discord, the tab still open with Bad's DMs. 

Skeppy's eyes flicked down to the text bar, he wondered if Bad would answer. 

His hands got a little clammy as he typed, his heart beat increasing from normal to a slight flutter. 

\------------------

_Skeppy: Hey Badboyhalo (1:23 am)_

\------------------

Skeppy nervously waited, wondering if he should just delete the message, block Bad and never bring it up. His anxiety started to blossom and creep up the sides of his neck, threatening to swallow him whole. That next minute felt like the longest fucking minute in his life.

\------------------

_Badboyhalo: Skeppy? (1:24 am)_

_Badboyhalo: Hey! :D (1:24 am)_

_Badboyhalo: Its been a while! (1:24 am)_


	2. Memory Disk

Skeppy sat there, staring at his screen at the messages. It was just the most calm, friendly greeting possible yet it made something stir inside Skeppy's stomach. He snapped himself out of it, letting his fingers fly on the keys, typing out a simple response. 

\---------------------------

_Badboyhalo: Skeppy? (1:24 am)_

_Badboyhalo: Hey! :D (1:24 am)_

_Badboyhalo: Its been a while! (1:24 am)_

_Skeppy: Yeah! I guess it has, hasn't it? (1:24 am)_

_\--------------------------_

Skeppy felt the giddiness of a third grader bubble up inside him.

To say it had been a while since he'd talked to anyone would be an understatement... 

\--------------------------

_Badboyhalo: Hey, im just gonna say it rn (1:24 am)_

_Badboyhalo: You know me, ive never been good at texting (1:24 am)_

_Badboyhalo: Do you wanna call? (1:24 am)_

_Badboyhalo: Ya' know.. for old times-sake :D (1:25 am)_

_\--------------------------_

Skeppy didn't remember this detail about Bad, but nevertheless he agreed, making a mental note that Bad was more comfortable in calls than he was texting.

\--------------------------

_Skeppy: Yeah, I can call rn :) (1:25 am)_

_Badboyhalo started call (1:25 am)_

_\--------------------------_

The ringing came through Skeppy's headphones (quite loudly, might he add) making him startle slightly as he accepted the call, a happy and distantly familiar voice coming through. 

"Hey," Bad sweetly stated, Skeppy swallowed before stuttering out a greeting

"Hi Bad," Skeppy tripped over his words a bit, causing a little giggle to come from the other end of the line.

"You okay?" Bad asked, pausing to try and find the right words, "You sound a little nervous," Skeppy froze, wondering if it really was _that_ obvious. 

"Sorry, its just uh..," Skeppy stumbled, "It's just been a while since i've talked to anyone,"

"Yeah, I know," Bad sighed out, it had worried their friend group when Skeppy suddenly stopped answering calls and went MIA, "You worried me and the others sick, where have you been?" Bad asked

"Well about 3 months ago i moved," Skeppy said, his tone getting a bit dark. 

"Oh" Bad knew what that meant, he knew Skeppy had been nervous for that move, "Im so sorry," 

Bad couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible for his friend's apparent downward spiral. For months, Bad has been carrying this guilt on his shoulders that he'd ditched his best friend for manhunt and some stupid smp lore. And to be quite frank, it still kept him up at night. 

Up until about 2 minutes ago he had thought Skeppy was dead, not knowing where he disappeared to. All this time he wanted nothing more than to call and pester Skeppy over and over until he answered but Bad didnt want his calls to go cold and unanswered and confirm his worst fears.

So he strayed away from Skeppy's contact, burying it deep in his friends list, not letting it resurface. Somehow, across the MCYT community a narrative was spread that Skeppy was taking a break. Meaning that everyone had left the situation be, not thinking too much of it while Bad sat there, balled up in the corner of his room everynight weeping into his knees which were pulled to his chest.

He really thought he had lost his best friend in the world, the only person who he had ever loved like that, the only person he was willing to give everything too was gone. It was then, in those few weeks after his false conclusion of Skeppy's death that Bad had been in the worst depression of his life. He stayed away from his computer, not daring to even click on it, for his loading screen was a stupid photoshopped picture that vurb had slapped together for another skephalo joke. It was of him and Skeppy laying on a blanket together and every time he saw it he would smile but now even thinking about that stupid fucking photo made him want to smash his computer to bits. He didnt eat for a week or so, his stomach not capable of anything more than the occasional sip of water (which his roomates made sure to spike with crushed up vitamins). 

He barely did anything, staying in bed all day and just sobbing. He would weep, scream, cry, pass out from exhaustion, wake up and repeat the cycle. The only interruptions coming from concerned roommates who were screamed at or ignored if they even dared to step foot in his room. so he was left alone most of the time, with his thoughts..

He'd never even gotten to meet up with him... It was the one thing Skeppy had wanted, the only thing that Skeppy relentlessly begged Bad for and he couldn't even do it for him. But besides that, he had felt so guilty that maybe it was all somehow his fault. So, when he finally booted up his PC a few weeks later to make content, people wouldn't stop asking about Skeppy. 

The worst part about coming back were the jokes. 

Quackity, Vurb, Geo, Everyone just kept on making those stupid jokes, it was nothing outside of the usual skephalo joke but now, they just tore bad up from the inside, out. 

"Oooooo badddd, is Skeppy passed out in your bed?" Vurb teased, "Is that why he won't come to the phone?" it was really meant to be of no harm, those words were light and teasing but to Bad, it was something entirely different. 

Another time Bad remembers is on Quackity's stream, Quackity kept on saying "your husband" in reference to Skeppy. Bad didn't even have to know his name to know who Quackity was referring to because everyone was constantly teasing Bad about his close relationship with Skeppy. 

But these jokes drove bad to snap. The poor man wept and cried, It was the first time anyone had publicly heard him truly upset, but it wasn't just anger it was fear and despair. The sound of his voice when speaking that day can only be described as haunting. He cried and cried, and the tears just wouldn't stop when he finally talked about Skeppy, not giving a flying fuck if it was in front of millions of people, or just quackity and a few others. It had been weeks and weeks since he'd talked to anyone about Skeppy and it all came out in that one stream. After it finally ended, he was asked to be put into a VC with the other members of the SMP to address whatever had just happened to him. 

_"Bad, we're so sorry," Dream spoke, it had been a while since they had last talked since Dream had been busy with other business affairs_

_"Bad I really didn't know, i thought that maybe-" Quackity paused, "W-we assumed you of all people would know where he was, that he was safe..."_

_"We seriously all thought he was living with you and was just done with the internet for a while," Karl agreed, speaking up._

_Bad sat there, in his chair... he wished Skeppy was with him, he wished he knew where Skeppy was but he didn't._

_"..you guys thought he was living with me?" Bad questioned, looking up and into the VC where everyone laid quiet._

_"Yeah," Puffy spoke, "But we- we didn't ask cause we didn't want to pry on your relationship, cause we know how you can get sometimes," She said._

_Bad was a bit confused at that line "But what about the things you guys say about us all the time??" Bad asked_

_"...lemme get this straight, you guys are okay making jokes and saying things about us.." Bad was starting to get angry._

_"...you're also telling me you just left this be because that would be prying to you?" His voice cracked from trying to hold back the anger._ _He tousled with his hair a little and adjusted his glasses, trying to calm down._

_"But apparently openly joking and talking about my sex life on stream isn't prying to you guys?" He finished. There was a sharpness to his words as anger and frustration laced his tone. How dare they?_

_The entire call lay completely silent, as if they were all kids getting scolded by a teacher, realising what they had done was worse than what they had actually intended. You see, those jokes were never said with any intent to harm, or humiliate anyone. Bad knew this, everyone knew this but it still got a rise out of Bad which was what Quackity and Vurb were after.. but they unknowingly overstepped, they had finally broken him._

_So here they all were, everyone on the SMP in a call with a quite clearly pissed off Badboyhalo and regret growing in all of their stomachs as they thought over their past words, adding the context that bad thought Skeppy was dead, and didn't know in the fucking slightest where he was. It was a lot worse than what they had thought._

_Everyone in that call besides Badboyhalo had genuinely thought Skeppy had moved in and just didn't want to ask because Bad hadn't said anything about Skeppy in weeks, and they thought that maybe it was just a fresh touchy subject._

_but this was worse, so much fucking worse. Everyone in that call, without a doubt knew how much Bad cared for Skeppy and vice versa and that's why the jokes were made so easily, without care. Because they just didn't know what thoughts were swimming around in Bad's head. They didn't know that the only person Bad loved more than his rat was apparently dead._

_Everyone in the call knew how much bad loved him, Skeppy was the only one that could make bad smile when others couldn't, Skeppy was the only one that Bad was overprotective of, Skeppy was the only one who could say sly things and get away with them around Bad, Skeppy was just the only one who had this mental power over Bad, able to get anything he wanted from Bad on command._

_They could all agree that if Skeppy had asked bad to do something for him, Bad would do it and vice versa. Their relationship was truly like no other, some would_ _even go so far as to say that most people will simply_ _never have a friendship like theirs because their friendship dynamic is so specifically intertwined in such a complex way that took so little effort because of how well they fit together. some are pretty confident in saying there's just basically no way anyone else could recreate what these two have._

_and everyone knew this, there was no doubt that these two loved each other to bits._

_"Listen," Niki was the next to speak, her quiet soft voice was now strong and stable, "We all may make jokes about you and Skeppy but Bad, we would never want to force you and him to be together or force you guys apart," She paused, taking a deep breath_

_"I know how it can feel to be forced into a relationship with someone," Niki quietly stated, it was an obvious reference to Wilbur who gave a quiet hum as an agreement._

_"Bad I-," Quackity spoke again, this time his voice was cracking a bit, almost as if he was swallowing back tears, "I-im so fucking sorry, I can only imagine how fucked up this was for you.." He said_

_  
"I know how much you meant to each other a-and not knowing if someone you love is dead or alive must be just fu-fucking awful," He said, tripping over his words, "And us making jokes about him..oh god, B-bad im so sorry,"_

_Unbeknownst to anyone in that call.. Quackity had been through something similar and just thinking back on that situation but adding Bad's circumstances was enough to bring him to tears._ _He could barely imagine what it must be like for Bad to listen to people sit back and make jokes, to talk so openly about something they knew nothing about._

_Bad could hear the pain in Quackity's voice,_

_"I-..guys this isn't your fault," Bad said, sighing in defeat...but it really wasn't anyones fault, they simply didn't know and Bad hadn't said anything to them about Skeppy's disappearance, "You guys didn't know, and I- I didn't even say anything," Bad said_

_"Im sorry guys, I really am," Bad said, everyone in the call chirped up saying things like 'dont be sorry, we understand' and 'no bad, its okay' but it wasn't, and from that point on anything regarding Skeppy was silently avoided.  
_

But here he was, sitting in a call with someone who he thought was dead. 

"So, how was it?" Bad asked

"Hmm?" Skeppy questioned

"The move..how was the move?" He reiterated

"Oh.. it..," Skeppy awkwardly stumbled, "Its been rough..to say the least,"

"Yeah, i feel that," Bad said.. the air laid stagnant around that sentence, creating a slightly awkward pause.

"I thought you were dead," Bad blurted out, immediately regretting it until he heard light chuckles come through the phone. 

oh god, how he had missed that laugh.

"No way??" Skeppy dramatically questioned, laughing all the while. 

"Yeah, you scared the crap out of me," Bad said, you could definitely hear the smile in his voice. 

"You of all people should know that you cant get rid of me that easily," Skeppy said, "IM IMMORTAL BABYYYY!" he finished, raising his voice to a victorious yell. Bad chuckled but as realisation hit him he froze.

"Bad?" Skeppy asked, the sudden silence not very comforting.. had he said something wrong?

"Baaad?" Skeppy asked again, dragging out the 'a' to try and grab his attention. 

"I need you to join a call for me," Bad said, switching tabs into the SMP discord and typing that he needed everyone in a call at once and sending it out.

"Uhm, okay..text me the invite when you're ready I guess," Skeppy said, waiting patiently as bad gave him a quick 'bye' and hung up.

Bad quickly formed a VC where everyone but Tommy, Tubbo, Wilbur, Eret, Foolish, Techno, and Phil sat since those 7 were too busy which was fine by him, as long as at least someone else knew that Skeppy was alive, he'd be okay. 

"Hello?" Bad asked, immediately he was answered with a few polite greetings. 

"So guys, i found out something today," Bad said, pausing to take a shaky breath, "Skeppy is alive," 

the room was silent, he thought that his friends would be happy to know but here they sat, not a word being tossed. 

"Bad..we.. we thought this would happen," Antfrost spoke, "But you understand.. that Skeppy is dead, right?" 

"Nono guys, you gotta listen.. I was just talking to him!" Bad explained frantically, they didn't believe him.

"Listen bad, I know losing someone can be hard but you have to get that fantasy out of your head," Quackity said, the others gave hums and some small 'yeah(s)' in agreement. 

"But i was just on a call with him in discord, I swear!" Bad said, Skeppy had been appearing offline so it certainly didn't help his case.

"Bad he's not online.." Niki softly said, it was tearing her up to see her friend like this. 

"w-wait guys I promise, let me just bring him in here!" Bad said, switching tabs to his DMs with Skeppy while audible sighs could be heard from the others. He sent Skeppy the link to the VC and told him to please connect which he did. 

and when Skeppy's muted profile pic landed in that VC, all hell broke loose. 

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Quackity yelled, "BAD I- WHO IS THAT?" 

"s-skeppy?" Puffy gently asked

"AYO WHAT THE FUCK?" Sapnap screeched, coming back from a bathroom break, only to see his dead friend in a VC, "YO WHO THE FUCK IS THAT?"

"Guys calm down, please," Bad pleaded but none listened

  
"Bad I swear to fuck, if this is a troll video you're going to hell," Dream said, "Cause this shit, is too far," 

"Yeah dude, having someone sign into your dead friends account and mess around is so fucked up," Sapnap agreed. 

Everyone in that VC huffed out angry replies before Bad suddenly spoke up

"Skeppy, you can unmute now," Bad said with a defeated tone in his voice

The muted symbol on the side of his profile picture vanished and everyone waited on the edges of their seats, still not believing their desperate friend but still keeping their ears open, hoping that maybe Bad was right, just to hear his voice one more time would be a miracle.

"So you fuckers really thought that i was dead, huh?" Skeppy asked with a cheeky smile in his voice. 

The call was completely silent but then small sniffles could be heard from Quackity's end of the line. 

"Dude?" Quackity choked out happily, "Is that really you?" Everyone sat there in disbelief, Bad wasn't crazy.

"Yeah, dude, it's me, i'm right here," Skeppy said, laughing awkwardly. 

The call was not awkwardly silent but, it was silent because none knew what to say. I mean it was happy silence, but silence nonetheless. 

"Let us see you please," Puffy asked it was a question that they all wanted to say but none was brave enough to ask. Puffy was simply still not convinced that the person she truly thought was dead was with her again. 

"Hmm?" Skeppy asked, quickly finding the answer himself "Oh? My facecam? Sure, i can turn that on if you really want," He said, adjusting his camera on himself before broadcasting his face into the VC. 

  
Every single person in that VC stared at their monitors just a little bit closer, and smiled just a little bit fonder because in that moment their minds were put at ease. 

"Holy shit, i-its really you?" Sapnap asked, zooming in on him. 

Skeppy shifted in his chair and ran a hand through his hair, "Yeah, its me," He said, holding out his arms and flapping them to show them that it infact, was him.

"Welcome-fucking-back," Dream breathlessly said, his mind racing with what the fuck was happening. 

"Bad, your husband is showing his pretty face off and you’re not even going to compliment him?" Quackity joked, the teasing was back and bad would be lying if he said he didn't miss it. Small little huffs of laughter could be heard across many of the people in that call, glad that Quackity was trying to re-establish some normalcy in this vast sea of confusion and happiness.

"I- Skeppy, you look good..as per-usual" Bad mumbled out, flustered by Quackity's remarks. But it was the truth, Skeppy was there, just as pretty as ever. 

"Aww thank you Bad," Skeppy teased, accepting the compliment with a wink to the camera, "Now then, i'm going to turn this off since i feel awkward being the only one in the call with it on," He laughed, turning off the camera, removing Bad's pretty spectacle.

The rest of the night was spent catching up, everyone still in a bit of aftershock, not fully grasping what was happening to them. 

It ended with just Skeppy and Bad in the VC after everyone else had retired to go to sleep. 

Tonight was a good night for Skeppy, who was really starting to understand who bad was. 

Bad was a human being who Skeppy couldn't help but be curious about, this distantly familiar emotion was starting to flutter in Skeppy. He couldn't quite pinpoint it but he knew something for sure, it would always get stronger when he noticed something new about Bad. Like the way he talks when he's lying or uncomfortable, the way he makes little noises, the way he is mature but childish, just little quirks that he had been able to point out and make note of. 

He went to sleep that night with a smile on his face for the first time in months, he was starting to feel a little less lonely in his empty house. 


	3. Connection Error

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter is kind of long and might be confusing so im sorry for that

Skeppy woke up suddenly in bed, startling Rocco who's large, poofy body was curled up snugly beside his legs, near the end of the bed. What little was left of his faint memory fleeted quickly away from his mind as usual, disallowing him from being able to recollect his dreams. He sighed and flopped back into his bed, disappointed at yet another failed attempt at recalling his dreams. 

This was the new normal for Skeppy who didn’t much care for remembering dreams in the first place until he lost the ability to. 

“Every day of my life is a dream so I dont need ones when I sleep!” That’s what he’d always tell himself, trying his best to reassure his wary mind. 

Skeppy used to even consider remembering dreams as somewhat of a burden, or a waste of his mind space but when they stopped, it scared him... because Skeppy not only used to be an active dreamer but a vivid one at that. 

He could recount every detail of his dreams or night terrors down to the shoes he was wearing or the shapes of the clouds in the sky but one day it just stopped. This ability he had just shut down on him and to be frank he missed them; he missed the dreams. No matter how hard or how desperately he tried, nothing worked. And what was odd was sometimes he’d wake up abruptly soaked in sweat or his heart racing but was unable to remember the dream that had caused it. 

All he could see when he tried to think were the back of his eyelids. 

It stopped somewhat after he moved, he had his last dream just about 4 months ago.

And that "last dream"... well, that was... 

\-- 

_"ahh, w-wait,"_ _Skeppy_ _breathed out, gently putting a hand onto the others chest and pressing against it, pushing the figure in front of him away from his lips._

_His heart was racing, fireworks were erupting in his chest, sparks were fizzling at his fingertips as his body made contact with the person in front of him. "Just one moment," He said, catching his breath. His swollen lips throbbed with the feeling of being kissed like there was no tomorrow and he wanted it, he wanted more_

_but he just needed to slow down._

_"If taking our time means making you comfortable," The person said, the feeling of words lingering on_ _Skeppy's_ _lips_

_"Then I have all the time in the_ _world.._ _" The person in front of him hesitated before moving down to his neck_

_"When it," The person said before pressing a light kiss under_ _Skeppy's_ _jaw bone_

_"Comes to," They moved to a different spot, speaking as they were looking for somewhere to kiss. Their lips found a spot, ghosting them onto_ _Skeppy's_ _collarbone_

_"You," They finished, Placing another gentle kiss on_ _Skeppy's_ _lips._

_Skeppy_ _smiled._

_so_ _this is what they call perfection, huh?_

\-- 

Skeppy shook his head, clearing it of the searing hot memory. He's always wondered who was in that dream with him. He's never been able to figure it out, the voice sounds like no one he knows and the figure is blacked out. It's taunted him for months and that detail just unfortunately managed to slip his mind and that was the one detail he had forgotten to make note of. 

_btzzz_ _btz_ _btzzz_ _btz_

Skeppy slowly turned his head to the side, looking at his phone which was vibrating on his nightstand. He rolled over in the indented mattress, reaching out to grab the phone. 

"Who the fu-," Skeppy asked, "Oh, hm," Skeppy hummed. He was just wondering who would call him so damn early in the morning but upon seeing the time on his home screen, his thoughts of early morning were more than blown away, it was not 7 or 8am as the boy had thought, it was 5 in the afternoon and the person who was calling him was none other than Bad. 

Without any further hesitation he picked up. 

"Hello?" He croaked; his voice still gravelly from having just woken up. 

"HI SK-," Bad was midway through chirping out his greeting when he stopped, "Are you okay?" 

"Huh? Y-yeah im fine, just tired," Skeppy said, pinching the bridge of his nose, right where his eyes met. He'd found that over the years it was the most effective way to wake himself up. 

"Oh sorry Skeppy did the stream and I wake you?" Bad asked with a little giggle, slyly letting Skeppy know that he was streaming without outright telling him.   
  
Bad always found it quite obnoxious when others would loudly and inconsiderately yell out “IM STREAMING, YOU ARE ON STREAM RIGHT NOW AT THIS VERY MOMENT!!” To him it always ruined the mood. I mean yes, it was necessary to let your guest know but you didn’t have to be so needlessly aggressive about it. That could scare away your guest, or make them uncomfortable so Bad tried his best to keep his stream notices on the down-low, always very subtle and sly. 

"No, no you're fine," He said, sighing. Skeppy should've known, he should've just at least checked to see if Bad was streaming. Because if he was being honest, this was his first public appearance in months and this phone call wasn't exactly doing him many favours in the "hes doing fine" department of things. He was hoping he would've at least come back on his own stream after he'd had the time to clean himself up but what can you do? 

"Why are you so tired anyway?" Bad asked checking his clock, "It's like 5pm.." 

"Did i say tired?" Skeppy asked, "Sorry, i just woke up," He said with a yawn 

"But- S..Skeppy?!," Bad stuttered out, flustered "What time did you go to bed?" Bad asked, trying to at least get a hold of his friend's sleep patterns. 

"Uhh..," Skeppy said, "I dont really know, 4am, maybe? Thats my best guess," And that was just the truth. His sleep schedule was so beyond messed up that he didn't even find it worth it to check the time before he went to sleep. Who cared anyway? 

He had no reason to wake up or do anything since he had enough money to live just fine for years. Turns out investing his money into stocks a few years back flipped quite a generous profit in his favour, not to mention his past content creation that had generated him a constant cashflow, even if he did spend most of it on Bad... 

Case in point being, although his spending might've been a little frivolous back in the day, hes still got enough to keep himself afloat until he figures himself out. 

He doesn't want to sound arrogant either but he no longer needs to stream or do anything to keep his financial stability, he's been stable since he was 18 and the whole internet knows it. 

"Skeppy that's bad for you," Bad said, in a slightly worried voice. 

"You're the only thing that's bad for me," Skeppy said and immediately, as the words passed his lips he regretted it. 

"NONO I JUST MEANT THAT UHM-" Skeppy stuttered, trying to cover up for it. He put his head in his hands, scrunching up his hair in his fingers "THAT YOU KEEP ME UP SOMETIMES, AND UHM THATS WHY-" 

"Skeppy?" Bad asked confused at his friends words. 

"BUT IT'S NOT LIKE THAT EITHER! YOU JUST KEEP ME UP WITH LIKE CALLS AND STUFF, IT'S NOT WEIRD, I'M NOT WEIRD," Skeppy looked over to the chat, "NO CHAT DON'T MAKE IT WEIRD!" 

Bad giggled softly,   
  


"Ughhhhhhhhh im sorry Bad," Skeppy sighed, his face dusted with red. He couldn't help it, this first appearance was nothing short of embarrassing. He lazily shuffled around in the covers, pushing them off himself and getting out of bed. 

“For what?” Bad curiously asked 

“I just feel like im messing things up here,” Skeppy said, “Its been months since i've even booted up my PC and I-,” 

Skeppy thought for a second as he walked down the hall and into the kitchen, holding the phone up to his mouth all the while he had Bad blasting proudly through his speakers 

“i don’t know, this is just not how I imagined coming back,” He huffed. 

“Awh Skeppy don’t feel like that,” Bad pleaded, finally putting that long-reserved sweet talking voice who he only ever used on Skeppy to good use. 

“You really think so?” Skeppy asked, getting an old box of pizza out of the fridge and setting it down on the counter, “Like you’re not just sayin’ that?” He asked, pulling the top off the stiff box and grabbing the remaining slices, putting them down onto a paper towel and walking over to the couch. 

  
"Yeah, trust me, Skeppy, im just glad your back," Bad said gratefully. It was true, ever since Skeppy had come back a few days ago he found himself getting better sleep, and his mood was drastically improving by the minute, mostly cause the more he thought about Skeppy being alive and well, the better he felt. 

He couldn't explain to you why though, it was just like he was connected to Skeppy's heart, like strings on a puppet. 

_He was a puppet, under_ _Skeppy's_ _control. He knew this._

_and he liked it too._

Skeppy looked at the phone in his hands, silence filled the call

"I thought you'd be mad at me," He admitted

"What?" Bad asked, had he heard Skeppy right?

"N-nothing..." Skeppy said, avoiding the topic entirely, "Hey do you still have that thing I gave you for Valentines Day?" He asked, it was a nonchalantly asked question, he wasn't really interested in the answer either, he just needed to get out of this conversation.

"S-skeppy?" Bad asked, obviously embarrassed at the boy's question.

Oh oops, was he not supposed to bring that up? 

"I..i mean...well," Bad fumbled around with his words, "ugh this is so stupid," Bad concluded, the chat was filled with lewd things, trying to guess what could've possibly been his gift to Bad. 

"Whatever, this stream has gone on for too long, i think im going to go ahead and end," Bad said, clearly very agitated at the current state of his chat, He said his short goodbyes and raided Puffy who thanked him with a smile and asked him if he'd want to join her in cleaning up the SMP but the chat replied for him, saying things like "NONON PUFFY HES WITH HIS HUSBAND!" and "HES IN A CALL WITH SKEPPY," Bad was awful at saying No to people, especially his friends so I guess for once he was glad that they were so nitpicky about Skeppy. 

"Bad?" Skeppy asked, "I'm sorry, i should’ve known not to menti-,"

"Heh..its okay Skeppy," Bad said, he was honestly more worried about Skeppy whos first impression wasn't looking so good. "Im more worried about you than me honestly," 

"What? Why?" Skeppy questioned, Had this man not just seen his own chat? The teasing would be immense, he already knew they were never going to let this one go. 

"Because you just came back; over the past months the community has changed a lot..," Bad said, "Especially without you here," 

"Oh..I see," Skeppy said, finishing his other slice of pizza and tossing the paper towel onto his trash covered coffee table. 

"..Fuck my house is a mess," He sighed, curling up at the end of his couch that wasn't covered in empty bottles and cans. 

"Lang-..Sorry.. force of habit," Bad shyly said "Anyway, why dont you just clean it? Im sure its not that bad," He assured. Skeppy scoffed

"No Bad its bad, like really really bad," He explained, "Like im talkin' some TLC hoarders type shit over here," 

"Yeesh," Bad said shuddering at the thought, he didn't even want to imagine the smell. 

"Yeah, its going to be a nightmare but I guess I could do it.." He said, looking around at his house which was piled up with dirty dishes, old clothing, bottles, cans, wrappers..you name it, it was most likely on this man's floor. 

Bad sat there in thought, He didnt want Skeppy to be alone ever again for that long.. but then again maybe it was just himself that didn't want to be alone ever again. Nevertheless, he most certainly didn't want Skeppy to be alone while battling the massive undertaking that would be cleaning his house but at the moment he was pretty exhausted from streaming. 

"Hey Skeppy, listen..," Bad said, grabbing Skeppy's attention, "If you wanted me too.. I could call you while you clean so you're not alone,"

  
Skeppy sat there, staring at his phone

"Would you like that?" Bad pressed, wanting an answer

"Yeah, i'd like that.." Skeppy responded, "I'd like that a lot,"

"Good, cause I dont like being alone anymore," Bad said sleepily

He paused for a quick moment before speaking again, 

"Listen, I-Im sorry I left you like that Skeppy, I should've known with how close we were.. that it would.. have an effect on you," Skeppy breathed out with relief, he'd been wanting to get a chance to talk like this with Bad. 

"Bad..," Skeppy sighed, "Listen, what you did to me was..," 

_awful,_ _you broke me.._

_but..I cant say much for you.._

_..I dont know what goes on in that head of yours._

"..was not your fault," Skeppy finished, abruptly ending the call. 

Bad sighed at the sudden cut in the line and got up from his chair and tiredly stumbled over to his bed. Upon taking off his shirt in attempts to get more comfortable, he looked over at the plushies that Skeppy had bought him, sitting neatly and proudly in a row. He smiled cheesily and snapped a picture of them. 

_DING!  
_

Skeppy clicked the text notification from Bad, opening his message 

_To answer your question, Yes I still have your gift_

_[attachment- 1 image]_

He opened the text to see that Bad, indeed still had the stuffed animal. Closer inspection of the photo revealed that he still had multiple stuffed animals Skeppy had gifted over the years. It had completely slipped Skeppy's mind that he'd even sent them, the memories just now being unlocked in his brain. He huffed out a smile and grabbed a stray blanket, getting comfortable and opening up Netflix. 

\--

"No, theres just no way!" Skeppy said with childish amusement, wiping the collection of sweat on his brow as he wiped down the last bit of counter. The call was now at it's fourth hour mark and Skeppy had finally cleaned the kitchen and living room. The mass quantities of just complete garbage were now enclosed in numerous industrial sized trash bags which were piled up to the side, while the clothing and miscellaneous items sat in a large pile by the entrance hall

"Yeah, and then she said 'I bet you like glizzies'," Bad continued, impersonating a girl's high-pitched voice to the best of his abilities, "And I kid you not Skeppy, I laughed so gosh darn hard that I fell onto the floor," 

"Dude??" Skeppy asked, his smile splitting wide open, he was unable to contain his laughter at this point, "Glizzies???" He questioned, bursting out in laughter, barely able to finish the word

"Oh my god, I wish you were there with me, or I had at least gotten someone to record it so I could show you," Bad said, coughing, it was obvious that he had expended the air in his lungs from laughing too much. These past four hours had to be the most Skeppy had laughed in..well probably since he'd moved all those months ago. 

"Hey do you remember when we used to talk about moving in together?" Skeppy asked.

Bad's head perked up a bit and those long summer nights on the phone came to mind. Just both of them sitting in a call that would last for hours, most of the time they'd just call each other and barely talk, they'd go about their days, making dinner, breakfast, or what have you. Doing daily tasks, watching movies, working. They just wanted to know that they weren't alone and having the pleasure of each other's company, knowing that they weren't alone was a nice feeling..

it was- well I guess you could say they had peaked in relationship status. They were almost there, they were so close to moving in together but Bad's anxiety always got the best of him.

Bad remembers wanting it so badly, he wanted so incredibly bad to be there with Skeppy. It was a sense of longing, one of yearning that had plagued him for months but he couldn't tell Skeppy that. So he would always decline the offers, worried that he'd make a risqué move and freak Skeppy out. So yes, to say the least he remembered those calls, those talks that would get his hopes up. Those talks that unknowingly implanted seething dreams into his friend's brain. It was torturous for the both of them. 

"Yeah kinda," He nonchalantly responds, going back to picking at his food. 

"..Heh, those summer calls back in 2019.." Skeppy mumbled out, throwing away the last bit of garbage in his kitchen. He sat at the kitchen table, out of breath and ready to just fall asleep but not even half of his house was done. 

_What were we Bad? What did we used to be all those months ago?_

"Yeah, they were really something weren't they?" Bad asked, 

_Gosh Skeppy, we used to be so close_

"Yeah i remember wanting to.." Skeppy paused,

_Comfort you on those restless nights you'd tell me about, tease you about silly things you do.. be with you_

"..meetup with you," Skeppy said. Those thoughts seemed quite sudden and intrusive but he didn't bother to mention any of it to Bad, worried he'd freak him out and destroy the relationship they were quickly rebuilding. 

The call fell silent, the unsaid words swimming around in each of their heads. 

The silence was broken by Skeppy getting up and out of his chair, He grabbed his phone and lazily walked over to the hallway and sighed

"Baadddd I really, realllly dont want to clean anymore," He whined leaning against the hallway wall. 

Bad smiled at Skeppy's weak and playful attempts at getting pity from him.

"Skeppy you have to," Bad paused, "Your house has gotta be clean so I can come and visit you," Bad teased

Skeppy smiled down at his phone, thinking back to those summer nights again. It was starting to feel like he'd never left, like those months of absence were slipping away and that large gap in his mind was being filled with Bad.

"Promise?" Skeppy asked, his tone still light and playful

"Mmmm no promises," Bad hummed

"Baaaaadddddd," Skeppy pouted, a giggle escaping from Bad's mouth as he shooed Skeppy's complaints away

"Ok ok, clean and then we'll talk," He stated, finally convincing the younger to go ahead and work on his bedroom. 

Skeppy pushed himself off the wall and stomped into his room, acting like a little kid. It was so, so messy. 

The living room and kitchen combined looked like a minuscule feat compared to the straight up _filth_ that was Skeppy's room. 

"Bad, how much longer can you stay on call?" Skeppy asked

"As long as you need me here," Bad stated, by the tone of his voice, Skeppy could decipher that Bad was clearly distracted with something on his computer.

"Bad, are you even listening to me?" Skeppy asked

"Huh? Yeah of course I am Skeppy," Bad lied, Skeppy rolled his eyes

"Baaaad how long can you stay on?"

"Skeppy, I have all the time in the world when it comes to you," Bad said

Skeppy's heart rate increased, he'd heard that somewhere. 

"Ok Bad, whatever you say," Skeppy laughed, trying to shake off the slight blush that had blossomed in his chest. He couldnt remember where he had heard that line at the moment but he knew it had to be something serious to invoke a reaction such as blushing. 

Skeppy got to work, going about his room, emptying out all the drawers of their bags of fast food, and empty cans, cleaning the luckily wooden floors of the foods and drinks, scrubbing away at his desks and surfaces with cleaner, and throwing his sheets into that big pile of clothing by the entrance hall. 

It took him just about 2 hours to get the whole room done but that was due mostly in part because he knew what he was doing now, with slight directional help from Bad and encouraging words here and there, it was a lot easier. 

"Seee?" Bad teased, poking fun at Skeppy, "Not so bad huh?"

"Whatever, it would've been a lot worse if you weren't here," He mumbled from across the room

"Hmm?" Bad asked, "What'd you say Skeppy? I couldnt hear you,"

"No-Nothing, im just kinda tired thats all," He huffed, it was true. After a long, grueling day of cleaning his dump of a house the young man was exhausted. 

"Well you should sleep, you deserve it!" Bad piped 

"Bad do you have dreams?" Skeppy asked out of nowhere. He just wanted to know if Bad might have some of that good ol' advice to give him. 

"What do you mean- Like dreams when I sleep?" Bad asked, then continued answering his own question "Yeah, well kinda.. Some nights I dream, others I dont," He said

"What are they about?" Skeppy asked, curiously 

"Well, I used to have these super vivid dreams about.." Bad paused

_you._

"This one person that was really important to me.." He continued

"..But they stopped after.." 

_you left_

"They left, and now my dreams are pretty bleak," He finished

"Really?" Skeppy asked, "The same kinda thing happened to me but instead of having bleak dreams I just can't see or remember anything,"

"Have you tried like..doing a sleep call?" Bad asked, "Maybe having some company will help?" 

"No, I haven't really spoken to anyone in a while, let alone sleep call," Skeppy flatly babbled

"Do you wanna do one tonight?" Bad asked, "We just stay here until we fall asleep," It didn't even feel weird to ask Skeppy these things, it was only natural. 

After all, they had spent years of their lives doing sleep calls almost every night so there was no way that a few months apart was going to break that down. 

"Yeah.." Skeppy said, setting the phone down on the nightstand and walking over to his bed with ease, it had been the first time in a while that he didn't have to kick trash out of the way or move something around to get to his bed and damn was that a nice feeling. "That sounds nice," 

He pulled his shirt over and off of his body, laying down on the bare mattress. He had no clean sheets, and he was too tired to do the laundry. There was so much of it that he just knew his water bill would be fucked and it'd take him days to clean everything.   
  


Nevertheless, he pulled a stray blanket from somewhere next to his bed and covered himself in it, getting all comfy cozy.

"Bad?" Skeppy asked, it was quiet on Bad's end for a little longer than usual,

"Hmm?" Bad asked, clearly by the muffled sound of his voice, Bad had also gotten into bed. 

"Can you talk to me?" Skeppy asked, turning off the lights in his room

"About what?" Bad asked, looking at Skeppy's icon

"Anything, I just wanna hear you," Skeppy said. Skeppy didn't want to admit it outright but Bad's voice made him feel safe, Bad's voice was calming to him, like honey or butter melting on pancakes, just something nice, something calm. 

"Ok, I can tell you about the time when Rat stole my hat," Bad said sheepishly

"Please do," Skeppy welcomed, not caring if Bad wanted to talk about Rat or fucking politics, he just wanted to hear that voice of his. 

And so Bad did, at first skeppy would encourage Bad to continue on with soft hums but eventually Skeppy slipped away into sleep. Unable to encourage Bad to talk anymore, Bad ended the call and went to sleep himself. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D idk when the next chapter will be out but I will get another one out 


	4. Organic Data

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kinda chaotic, it just has a lot of things jam-packed into it so I wish you luck on reading this one.

"You are so short," Bad unnecessarily pointed out while resting his heavy forearm on Skeppy's head, effectively using him as a personal armrest. Skeppy huffed and angrily ducked his head out from under Bad's arm, swiveling on his heels to face the baggage claim area, watching as the long belt moved luggage along, waiting to be found by its rightful owners. 

"No, I am not," He breathed out, this was not how he planned the meetup going, "5'7 is a perfectly reasonable height!" Skeppy was just simply embarrassed, all of those times that he would tease Bad about being taller and would tell him to 'wait until we meetup' were proven incorrect and only being rubbed in when he was jokingly used as an armrest by his big stupid friend. 

"Sure, whatever you say," Bad said, walking past Skeppy and over to the luggage belt where Skeppy's bag sat on the rollers, Skeppy watched as Bad easily slung his carry-on over his shoulder. Bad pointed to another bag, it was a muted periwinkle coloured one and looked back at Skeppy, presumably for confirmation that it was his. 

Skeppy gave a half nod, his face still a little red from being toyed with about his height. Bad scooped up the bag and carried it over to Skeppy. Skeppy was in awe, the bag itself was heavy as hell last time he checked so either Bad was scarily strong, or Skeppy was scarily weak. It was most likely the latter due to the amount of time Skeppy spent behind a screen, not lifting many things that were over 5lbs. Bad looked over at Skeppy who shifted his focus onto Bad... 

_Skeppy_ _hated him._

_He hated how smug he looked_

_He hated how freakishly strong he was_

_He hated his stunning green eyes_

_He hated his fluffy hair_

He hated it... because of how much he liked it. 

“What now?" Bad asked with a slight victory smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. Skeppy looked away quickly. 

_fuck, he had been staring_

Skeppy quickly regained his ever-present confidence and allowed himself to break free from the stupid trance that Bad had put him under. "This is not how I imagined it going,” Skeppy mumbled. He just wanted to go home at this point, Bad gave him a confused look, probably about his remark. 

Skeppy scoffed and started to walk past Bad but before he could go out of his reach, Bad grabbed Skeppy's arm, his hand wrapping almost all the way around it. 

The facade of hatred and satire that Skeppy was fighting so hard to keep up fell in an instant and another blush blossomed on his face, this time not of embarrassment but of some other emotion, one that Skeppy couldn't describe. Skeppy's eyes flicked from the hand on his arm up to Bad's face which was there to greet him with a solid but slightly confused stare. Bad's eyes looked down at his own hand and then back up to Skeppy's face. 

"S-sorry" He stuttered, letting go of Skeppy's arm immediately. 

Skeppy rubbed the spot where Bad had been holding onto, his flesh was so incredibly warm there compared to any other part of his body. 

"If this wasn't what you were expecting," Bad started, shaking off the slight tension between the two, "Then how, exactly, did you want this to go?" He finished, giving Skeppy another smug look as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, silently and childishly boasting his height victory to Skeppy. 

"I don't know, but it was NOT like this," Skeppy hissed, "...This is so stupid, I was supposed to be the taller one," He stated, clearly annoyed with his current situation. 

"Gosh Skeppy you're so grumpy," Bad giggled, teasing Skeppy with an eye roll. 

_And that-_

_-that right there was another thing_ _Skeppy_ _hated about him, not just his stupid pretty eyes but also that stupid contagious laugh that_ _always seemed to draw_ _a smile out of_ _Skeppy_ _._

"Do you need a hug Mr. Grumpy?" Bad asked with sad-teasing puppy dog eyes as he uncrossed his arms and held them out for Skeppy. 

Skeppy huffed and turned his back to Bad, looking in the other direction... He really did want that hug... He wanted it so badly, but his stubbornness came first, not allowing his body to move. Luckily Bad did his job for him, coming up behind him and wrapped his arms around Skeppy. Skeppy turned around in the hug so that he was now facing Bad. Bad looked down a bit to meet Skeppy's face, smiling as he gazed into the soft chocolate brown eyes. 

"You're so dumb," Skeppy said, burying his face into Bad's chest mid-sentence meaning that half of it was muffled and wrapped his arms around Bad. Bad smiled, knowing that this was more of a term of endearment than one of hostile intent. 

Skeppy pressed harder into Bad, wanting to feel more of this safe embrace, just wanting to feel more Bad. 

\--- 

"Urghhh-," Skeppy groaned wiping his lips with his arm, hunched over the smooth porcelain, His legs had given out on him a few moments prior and he collapsed on the cold tile floor. 

"Fuck..." he hissed, spitting what was left in his mouth into the toilet, he could feel the bitter taste of stomach acid in his throat and thin prickly tears lining his eyes. That prickly feeling causing him to squeeze his eyes shut, the blindingly harsh, modern white of the bathroom not giving the boy any motivation to keep them open. Small tears left the corners of his eyes as he grabbed his phone off the side of his sink counter, going into his voice memos and tapping record with a shaky thumb. 

He grunted softly and hoisted himself up, his body feeling impossibly heavy as he swayed on his feet, already exhausted even though the day had just begun. 

"So, Ive just had a dream," Skeppy said, monologuing to himself as he stood there, looking at himself in the mirror. His ghostly pale face and bloodshot eyes were a far cry from how he normally looked but that was only natural after what he had just been put through. 

The burning of post-throw up rested in the back of his mouth and coated his throat as the butterflies in his stomach seemed to congeal around his insides and solidify their presence, not leaving as his body had thought they would. No matter how much dry heaving and coughing the boy endured those butterflies wouldn't go away.

Those butterflies of course, were caused by his dream. 

It was the first dream Skeppy had in quite a while and he couldn't help but think it was real, only to wake up and have the dull slam of reality knock into him. He wasn't in an airport, he wasn't visiting anyone, and he didn't have Bad. His stomach did not take very kindly to this feeling, screaming at him to get his ass up. It was almost as if a glitter bomb had exploded inside of him, and this sudden urge to get it out overcame him. 

"It was about Bad, and we were in an airport," He said, twisting the knob on the sink to let the water flow from the spout, he grabbed his toothbrush from the holder on the side of his sink, "I met up with him," He said, running his toothbrush under the water and squeezing out some toothpaste onto the bristles. 

"It was weird because I ended up being shorter," He said, sticking the brush into his mouth and gently scrubbing his teeth, the toothpaste foaming up and interfering with his clear speech 

“He was also like..abnormally strong," Skeppy said, "Which I mean, I can understand why my brain would think of that cause he did tell me he used to lift weights in high school," Skeppy brushed his teeth more and thought about it 

"Actually nevermind, because Hes what...like 25?" Skeppy asked himself, spitting out the foamy paste into the sink and washing it down the drain, "So hes been out of high school for like..2..3..6..7.. like 7 years," Skeppy concluded, rinsing off his toothbrush and placing it back into its holder with a clink. 

"So if the man hasn't been keeping up with his weight lifting then there's no way-," Skeppy paused to wipe his mouth off with a towel, "That he's retained that muscle over the span of 7 years," 

“Right?” Skeppy asked, looking over at his phone 

He sat there thinking for a moment 

_I wonder if_ _Bad_ _would hug me? If he would hold me like that_

_Do I want that though?_

“Back to what I was saying before,” Skeppy said, grabbing his phone off the side of the counter and walking down his hall and into the main living area where that pile of clothing and sheets sat, stinking up the room along with that mass pile of garbage. Skeppy wished that someone would come and do it for him, like a tooth fairy but for trash and laundry. “So basically, Bad and I met up and this wouldn’t have surprised me but,” 

Skeppy opened up his newly cleaned out refrigerator, seeing as Bad had encouraged him to clear out all of the take away food it was almost entirely empty, “Oh shit.. I guess I need to go shopping then,” He decided, grabbing a water bottle from it and closing the door. 

“Anyway, it wouldn’t have been anything special if I hadn’t felt so weird when I woke up, and if that hug hadn’t felt so personal,” Skeppy continued, thinking of how it felt to be wrapped in Bad’s arms. “Real or not, I'm still confused about us ya’ know?” He said, unscrewing the cap and taking a few large gulps of the water, the stinging of the fresh mint through his mouth making it feel like he’d just drunken liquid Antartica. He sucked in a freezing breath and sat there for a few seconds, trying to get that cool mint out of his mouth. 

“Like, he left me right?” Skeppy asked, “And then he comes back, and we’re just supposed to go back to how we were?” Skeppy wandered away from his phone and over to the counter, jumping up and sitting on it, letting his feet dangle from the edge. 

“I just still feel like I don't know-,” Skeppy looked down at the ground, studying the tiled floor carefully while thinking. “I'm just so con-fucking-fused,” Skeppy admitted sighing. 

“I mean I’m still partially mad at him for leaving me, just throwing away everything we had built for some stupid content...” Skeppy said, thinking back to how crushed he had been, how depressed not having Bad around made him feel. “Not to mention he didn't even try to fucking contact me, not even a text or anything,” Skeppy huffed. 

“The motherfucker just left me for months, just ghosted me like I was nothing,” Skeppy said, he could feel his blood start to get a bit hot, he let a shaky breath escape his body. 

“I wonder if he even cared?” 

“Like during all of those months did he even notice I was gone?” 

“Did he?” 

“Was I even a thought in his head?” Skeppy quietly asked himself, the only thing there to answer was the cold silence of nothing and the subtle buzzing of his phone, letting him know that someone was trying to contact him. 

“Oh, someone is calling me, I guess it's time for me to go,” He said, getting down from the counter and landing gently on the floor, picking up his phone and pressing the ‘pause recording’ button, subsequently ending his soliloquy. 

This wasn’t exactly the most ideal situation for Skeppy, who then, was trying to get all of his emotions out but lo-and-behold the person who was stopping him from that metaphorically was now doing it metaphysically as well, calling him when he was mid-rant. 

Skeppy thought about it for a bit, did he really want to talk to Bad right now? He was so close to sliding the call over to the red temptress that was the “ignore” button but decided against it, sliding it over to the green side, accepting it against his mind's wishes. 

“Hello?” Skeppy asked boredly, waiting for something to come from the connected line. 

“Good Morning Skeppy!” Bad happily chirped out, "Did I wake you up? You sound kinda tired" Bad asked 

_yes, in a dream_

"No, I woke up a while ago, I'm just kinda here now," Skeppy said, it was a cold sentence, emotionless you could say. 

Skeppy couldn’t bear to seem happy right now, the disingenuous act of putting on a sweet voice and sucking up to Bad just wasn't a possibility at the moment for him. Its not like he was mad or angry he just, wasnt all that happy and it didnt seem worth it to waste energy on Bad. 

"Are you okay?" Bad asked, he was so confused, had he caught Skeppy at an inconvenient time? 

"Yeah, im fine," Skeppy said, rolling his eyes. 

"Well, I was just calling cause I wanted to talk to you about something," Bad said, waiting for Skeppy to question him, which he didn't. "Theres a game called Jackbox.."

"Mhmm?" Skeppy encouraged, his moody tone dissipating a little as he realised he had no reason to be mad at Bad, all he was doing was calling to ask him about something. 

"Basically its like this party game thing where a buncha people play games and its super fun," He explained. Skeppy let out a little sigh, so small that it couldn't be heard and smiled. 

He missed talking to Bad. 

"Really?" Skeppy asked

"Yeah!" Bad answered, bubbling up a little, "But basically Quackity is doing a stream on it later...and ya' know.."

"Dream, George, Karl, and I are all gonna be there.." Bad listed off names, some caught Skeppy's attention. 

"...and we needed another personnn.."

"..So I was maybe wondering..if you'd like to.." Bad said, the shyness in his voice was bubbling up

"..Join us?" Bad said with a little squeak

"Mmmm, lemme think about it," Skeppy teased. Bad, not picking up on the teasing tone, piped up

"Oh! Right! Sorry I completely forgot! Your probably busy i'll jus-"

"Baadd," Skeppy said in a sing-song voice, shutting Bad up rather quickly

"Yes?" Bad asked

"I was only teasing you, of course im free for you," Skeppy assured

"Oh, thank goodness! I didn't know who else to go to and i'm sure the others missed you so this should be good for everyone," Bad said with a smile, relieved that Skeppy was available. 

"Anyway, ill let you get back to whatever you were doing before..." Bad paused, presumably thinking about something, "OH RIGHT! before I forget its at 8:30 tonight and usually the stream is like an hour or two long so..just a heads up," Bad said before giving a sweet goodbye and hanging up the call. 

Skeppy sighed and put both of his arms on the counter, leaning against them and laying his head in his hands.

"Fuuuuckkkkkkk," Skeppy let out in one long breath, "Why do you do this to me?" Skeppy said aloud, letting his thoughts escape through his lips. He walked over to the pile of laundry by the hall and scooped up a disgusting armful, waddling over to his washer and dumping the chunk of clothing in. 

"You just, ease my nerves," He said, going back to the pile and picking up another less-than-appealing armful and carried it over. "But your the one who causes them," He said, pouring detergent into the slots and shutting the top of the basin, picking out the settings and starting the wash. The two armfuls was barely a dent in the pile and Skeppy couldn't help but ask himself how he had even amassed this much cloth in his house in the first place. 

"You make me so fucking happy, but so angry," Skeppy said, pacing around his house, there were only small things to do left in regards to cleaning such as vacuuming the floors and cleaning the rugs, which he figured he could just hose them down outside or something later. "You confused the hell out of me," He said, softly grunting as he walked around and bent down to collect his small rugs that were here and there. One in the guest bedroom, two in each bathroom (of which he had 3), 1 in his bedroom, a few scattered about the kitchen, one in the main living area, one in the dining room, and one in the main hall. 

"I loved you for so long," Skeppy said, smiling as he scoffed at himself. Those words sounding so foreign on his tender lips. "Now its like our settings are back to default," Skeppy said, tossing each carpet on to his back patio, the scorching florida sun was enough for him to hose them down real quick and set them out to dry. The cement of the patio set his feet ablaze as he scampered over to the hose which pumped out hot water from sitting out in the sun, much to his dismay. 

He gritted his teeth and let the hose run for a bit longer, the cool water soon flowing out smoothly. He lifted his leg and sprayed the hot skin on the bottoms of his feet and coated the roasting patio with the cool liquid making it just bearable enough to walk on.

"I mean, I still do but I never really knew how you felt," Skeppy said, dropping the still-running hose onto the ground, stripping his shirt off, and throwing it back inside the cool house, shutting the door and picking the hose back up off the ground. The shirt was doing nothing in terms of cooling him off so it was less than helpful. With the water still splattering out all over the ground he dragged the heavy mass of plastic-rubber tubing over to get more reach and sprayed down the rugs one at a time, watching as the dirt was washed away. 

"I mean what was I supposed to do?" Skeppy asked as he went back inside for a quick moment, the frigid air inside his house chilling him to the bone as he grabbed some dish soap, deciding that if this stuff could cut through oil spills that it could cut through the crap on his carpets too. 

"Admit that I liked you when you gave me like...barely any signals back?" He asked, walking back outside and pouring a generous amount of the blue-coloured soap onto the carpet, getting down on his knees and scrubbing it in with his hands. "I mean sure, we'd flirt alot but..you didn't mean it.. did you?" 

"Because if you did then im just a fucking idiot," Skeppy said, thinking back to all the hints Bad had managed to drop when they would playfully flirt with one another.. he felt dumb, if those were real then he felt so beyond dense right now.

"God, you really hooked me in didn't you?" He asked, the shag carpet that belonged to the guest bedroom getting covered in suds as Skeppy ran his hands through the oddly hair-like strands. 

"I went all silly for you," He said, gripping the strands of the carpet a bit before letting the clump of soapy carpet go and softly raking his hands through it. "This is so weird...but I wonder if you'd let me run my hands through your hair like this," 

Skeppy sighed, continuing to massage the carpet, thoroughly deep-cleaning it, "After a long day, I could sit there and run my fingers through your hair.." He paused, "You would like that wouldn't you?" Skeppy asked indirectly towards a non-present Bad. He gently ran his hands over the carpet again, feelings the silky shag beneath his fingertips. He took a deep, hot breath in and stood up. That was enough of that, he didn't want this fantasy to engulf his mind and body anymore than it already was. 

He hosed down the shag and tossed it away from the range of the water, laying it straight under the sun. It would be just a few hours before that thing would be dry, he was sure of it. He finished up the rest of the carpets, giving them their fair share of scrubbing and rinsing before they were all neatly spaced apart from each other, all sitting out waiting patiently to be dried. Skeppy didn't know how much time had passed but he did know that his back and chest were hurting. He stepped inside and the cool air hit his skin once again, bringing it relief to the otherwise unnoticed stinging. 

_Fuck, I forgot the sunblock_

Skeppy made a dash for the bathroom, wanting to see just how bad this burn was going to be. His body looked like an overcooked lobster, the pain not quite intense yet but he knew that it would get really bad really fast. He turned around and turned on the bath, the dry pipes creaked as they tried their best to siphon the water through their long-unused tubes. 

"Come on baby, just need some cool water here," Skeppy coaxed, he knew how fucked this would be in just a few hours, he knew how bad it would get. He was awful when it came to pain and seeing as he was only sunburnt a few times in his life, this was just not going to be fun. 

The water sputtered out of the pipes and Skeppy watched as it ran down the drain. He figured he'd let the water run a little before taking a cool bath or anything but in the meantime he stuck his head under the running water, the grease levels in his hair straight up rejected the water, causing it to roll off like it was sprayed with waterproofing sealant. 3 and a half weeks of grease was trapped on this young man's scalp and by god if he wasnt going to wash it 3 times over.

He grabbed his crusted-over shampoo bottle and cracked open the lid, letting the gel flow into his hands, while still uncomfortably bent over the side of the tub, he worked the gel into a thick lather and ran his soap-coated hands through his hair. 

_it was disgusting_

He scrubbed his head, just working at it for a few minutes to try and loosen everything up before rinsing and his hands and head under the running bath water. He re-coated his hands with the shampoo and worked it in for the second time, the water not completely rejecting his entire head made it a lot easier for Skeppy who was, by this point, already feeling less like a deep-fryer.

He once again rinsed it out and this time went in for the last wash, letting out a little sigh as he massaged his head. He had to cut this one short though as the condition of his back and chest worsened and he rinsed it for the last time, making sure to get absolutely everything out before cleaning out the tub of bubbles and closing the drain, slowly letting the tub fill. 

He got up, his back not only starting to feel like it was on fire, but also felt stiff from being bent over the side of the tub so awkwardly. He got up and went to the kitchen where his phone was sitting on the counter. he reached for it but thats when it hit. He groaned and the motion of moving his arm sent thousands of fire ants biting across his back. 

"Agh, what the hell?" He asked, there was no way that this was happening this fast, that it was setting in this freakishly fast. He thought he had a few hours before the pain would set in, not a few minutes. He walked closer to the counter and gingerly tested his movements, slowly lifting his shoulder and forearm, it was just enough to reach his phone but nothing more. He craned his neck, not able to move his arm very much in terms of up and called the only person who he could think of at that time, _Bad._

Bad picked up the phone on the second ring, as usual. 

"Hello?" Bad asked, Skeppy talked down into the phone

"Bad -Ah FUCK," Skeppy yelled sucking in a hiss-like breath. He had accidentally brushed is back up against the wall. 

"Oh my goodness, are you okay?" Bad asked

"Mmm, no I fu-owww.." Skeppy said, a groan of pain escaping his lips as he stumbled into the bathroom where the roaring of the water coming from the bath-spout could be heard. "I stayed out in the sun without blo-AHHH..block on," He said, straining himself to shut off the water causing a small fire to erupt under his skin. 

  
"Skeppy? Are you serious?" Bad asked, it was more of a question like 'how could you be so dumb' but seeing as nothing was on Skeppy's mind but pain, he took it a different way.

"AHHMM-, does it sound like im fu-fucking kidding right now?" He asked as he maneuvered his body to cause as little pain as possible and gently set the phone on the bathroom counter. The bath water was nothing short frigid which the rest of his body wouldn't take very kindly too but alas, he was looking for relief and was willing to do anything else get this hot, bullet like sensation out of his skin. He stepped into the tub, shorts still on. His feet and ankles seising from the sudden cold shock as he sank into the bathtub, the water hitting his chest and back.

"AH-" Skeppy yipped as the cold water lapped at his sun-scorched skin, the harsh coolness making the fiery-bullets somewhat subside

"Are you going to be okay?" Bad asked, it was a good thing he was on speaker phone. 

"I dont know," Skeppy said, his body had really been through enough for one day. He was tired, he was burnt, he was running on an empty stomach and he had no one there to take care of him, no one there to help him. 

"Do you need me to call your sister or mom or someone so they can go over to help you?" Bad asked, it was almost as if he had read Skeppy's mind. 

"ummm," Skeppy muttered, the cool water around him was exhausting his muscles as he sat in the tub, his eyelids getting heavy. 

"Skeppy?" Bad asked, the line was going a bit quiet. 

Skeppy let his eyelids fall, just letting out a soft 'Bad' before passing out in the tub. 

"Skeppy? Im going to call your sister okay?" Bad asked, waiting to hear his yelps of pain, his cries for help, anything to let him know that skeppy was still awake 

"Oh god, uhh," Bad frantically ended the call and searched through his contacts and found Sam's number, Skeppy had given it to him for some odd reason back a year or so ago and Bad had luckily kept it in his phone. He called her and impatiently bounced his knee, worrying for Skeppy's safety. Although Skeppy hadn't really explained what he was doing bad could hear the water sloshing around earlier when Skeppy was presumably getting into the tub. It was 4 long rings before Sam picked up, her voice calm and collected.

"Hello?" She asked formally

"Sam? Hey, its me, Skeppy's friend Bad," Bad rushed, "Listen I dont want to alarm you or anything but I think Skeppy is in danger," He said

Sam let out an audibly confused huff and slowly spoke.

"Im sorry but uh, who- who are you?" Sam asked, rightfully skeptical about the strange man babbling quickly about her brother.

"I go by Bad, Skeppy and I make a lot of videos and stream together sometimes-.." He paused, "L-listen okay, that's not the point! The point is, Skeppy passed out over the phone and I was wondering if you happened to be anywhere near him,"

"Hmm? Near Zak's place? No, he moved pretty far out from us a few months ago," She explained. Bad muttered a small 'ohno' under his breath

"Well, I think he passed out in the bathtub and I just- I just need someone to check on him," Bad said, Sam sighed..of course..only her brother would do that wouldn't he? "And apparently he got burnt really badly and I just- please Sam, can you help me out here?" Bad asked, his heart was starting to hammer at his chest, as if there were a team of percussionists inside him, pounding away at him. 

"Uhh, I can call someone we know who is in the area and I could give them your number," She paused, "Since I can tell you're obviously distressed and you'd probably want updates," 

"Oh my gosh would you do that?" He asked, happy that at least someone was nearby.

"Yeah of course, he's my baby brother, i'd kick some ass for him if I had to," She said with a smile, "The guy i'm calling- his name is Leo, he's an old family friend,"

"Ok, thank you so much Sam," Bad said

"Thanks for notifying me, i'm glad Zak has such good friends," She warmly commented. 

"Yeah," Bad sheepishly replied, Sam reassured him one more time that she would call 'Leo' and promptly hung up, texting Bad his number. 

Bad sighed out in relief and tossed his phone on his bed, getting up from his computer chair which he was sitting in and ran his fingers through his hair, pulling at it a bit to give himself a little 'pull yourself together' as his pounding heart calmed down a bit. 

"Oh my god Skeppy,"...Bad huffed, "You really are something else huh?" He asked

"A few days back and i've already almost had a heart attack because of you," Bad said, walking the his small bathroom and taking his glasses off, splashing his face with sharp, cold water. 

"Hey, you okay?" Asked his roomate, it was nice to see Bad out of his room.

Bad blindly grabbed a towel and patted his face down, putting his glasses back on and looking over to his roommate. 

"Yeah, im great," Bad said, walking past his roommate and going into the kitchen. 

His roommate was shocked, it had been weeks since Bad had even left his room but for some reason today he comes out and just acts like nothing ever happened. Bad walked over to their small and quite frankly jam-packed food cabinet, grabbing his apron from the door and a knife from the chef's block. He cheekily spun on his heel and lazily pointed it at his roommate who was watching him by the kitchen hallway.

"You want anything in particular for dinner?" Bad asked, "Cause if not then i'm just gonna make whatever I want," He said. His roommates jaw was down to the floor. I mean they loved Bad's cooking, 100%, but it was so strange. This man has just bounced back so quickly without any issues. 

Not to mention they missed Bad's cooking, and shit if they were tired of ordering take away constantly... it always turned out less than glamorous or just plain gross. 

"Just make whatever Bad, i'll eat like...anything you cook to be honest," They admitted with a little huff of a laugh, sitting down at the kitchen table to keep Bad somewhat company and to watch as he worked his magic. 

"Ok, but dont judge me, it's been a few months so I might be somewhat rusty," Bad admitted with a smile as he searched in the fridge and cabinets, pulling out all sorts of things and putting them onto the counter. 

"Better than me," His roommate commented, earning a small laugh from Bad. The memory of his roommate almost burning down the entire house came to mind. After that day it was humbly decided by the both of them that maybe it was better for Bad to handle dinner.

"Mhmm," Bad hummed, looking at the clock _5:45.. he had time,_ and got to work on dinner. 

His roommate sighed as they watched. They didnt know how Bad managed to keep all of this in his head, not only how to cook but what ingredients to use on what. Bad always told him it was from 'lots of trial and error' but his roommate hated making mistakes, he could never understand people who had the patience to learn cooking skills...

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyedddddd :D 
> 
> (Kudos and comments are appreciated)


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